The president of the Legislative Assembly of Umbria, Donatella Porzi, takes over the Calre Presidency 2019

The President of the Legislative Assembly of Umbria, Donatella Porzi, has officially assumed the chair of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE). The ceremony was held in the Brugnoli Hall of Palazzo Cesaroni, attended by the outgoing president, Ana Luìs, President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

The CALRE presidency handover ceremony took place with the traditional exchange of the Makila Baton, the stick that symbolises the presidency. President Porzi stressed that her presidency would be focussed on rights and legality.

“The CALRE working parties will continue to enjoy positive exchanges, opportunities to listen to each other and the sharing of requests of each individual region. With the awareness that listening to each other, seeking to bring problems to the very heart of Europe, is the best way by which to construct a Europe we feel to be very important indeed. Europe’s future currently stands before a major divide and the forthcoming elections will say a lot about what we will be leaving to the generations to come. We know that the Europe we are living in today is not what its founding members had in mind, but we perhaps all too easily forget that it has guaranteed us all 70 years of peace. We should reflect deeply and seek to understand the aspects on which we need to work to modify this project and bring it better into line with the needs of today”.

The ceremony was introduced by the greetings of the President of the Regional Council of Umbria, Catiuscia Marini, and the auxiliary bishop of Perugia, Paolo Giulietti, and concluded by the academic convention “Ex pluribus unum: le autonomie e il futuro dell’Europa” (“Ex pluribus unum: autonomies and the future of Europe”).

President Porzi was elected in Horta, in the Azores, during the plenary session held on 21 November. The outgoing president, Ana Luìs, will act as Vice President for 2019.